Rise and Fall of the Romanov Dynasty

The Romanov Dynasty held the Russian Empire as one of the most powerful European states for over three centuries. In 1917, during Nicholas II’s contradictory reign, a revolution began that transformed the empire into the first ever communist nation, replacing the infamous autocratic rule and introducing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Russian people were ruled by an autocratic government since 1613 when the Romanov Dynasty began. The government was run by the Tsar who had unlimited power over the rest of Russia. The Tsar set up a system of government involving an imperial council, a small cabinet of ministers and a senate; all of which were implemented as personal advisers and delegates. The Tsar had control over who was appointed and dismissed, and no one challenged the power of the governmental system. To ensure the country operated effectively, a bureaucracy, merely consisting of the noble and upper classes put official policies into place. Many believed the bureaucrats were corrupt collecting bribes along with their wages. Practical measures were also needed to be taken in order to enforce Russian autocracy. While the police maintained law and order, the Tsars organised secret police called the Okhrana, for the surveillance of revolutionaries and anarchists while also censoring certain information and activities. The Russian Orthodox Church was a major influence in instigating the tsar’s autocratic powers. As the primary religion of Russia, the church claimed that it was the Tsar’s ‘divine right’ to rule and that his autocratic powers were derived from God. The church taught the Russian people to embrace autocracy and to love and obey the Tsar’s supreme power. The Tsar was described as being a dictatorial emperor and that 'neither a constitution nor other institutions limited the Tsar’s authority. The sudden outbreak of World War One was a great reflection of Nicholas II and his inefficiency commanding Russia. Before the war even began, hundreds of thousands of people had started to grow restless with the government. Many strikes and public demonstrations began to occur within the Russian borders constantly protesting for better working and living conditions. Many started to revolt and the citizens had their sights set on a change of government. Strong socialist and liberal encounters occurred for the Tsar and when he consistently brought disappoint and humiliation to the nation, much of the state grew sick of the tsarist rule. A major strike movement largely influenced by the humiliating defeat by the Japanese instigated the revolution of 1905. This day on January 9th was given the name ‘bloody Sunday’ as thousands of protestors marched on the Tsar’s palace and were massacred by members of the Russian military. This hint of a revolution resulted in the Tsar introducing an elected legislative assembly called a Duma in the parliament. However, even with a more efficient parliament, the uprisings continued throughout the year and for years to come with growing political discontent sending Russia on the verge of a national crisis. Then war broke out in 1914 saving the government from a large revolutionary movement and the country suddenly became fixated on an external enemy. This war deeply reflected the inadequacy of Russia’s military and economy. Almost a quarter of the army had not been issued with rifles and shortages of ammunitions, food and supplies became an epidemic. After endless defeats on the battlefield, many knew that 'the Russian army was fighting a 20th century war with 19th century training and inadequate equipment.' As a result, the government strained to withstand the economic pressures, with the war costing 5 times the annual budget. Then in 1915, Nicholas II went to the battlefront as commander in chief leaving Alexandra in control of the government back in Russia. The Tsarina frequently took advice from Gregory Rasputin also referred to as the ‘mad monk’, who many believed became so...

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The Tsar did not help his cause in the period between 1906 and 1912. He introduced a parliament, the duma. This gave some hope that Russia would now not be an Autocracy, but it was short lived as the Tsar quickly took most of the Dumas power away from it, scared that it may overthrow him as Tsar. He re-instated the duma twice, each time with more conservative powers. He also did not improve his relationship with the most powerful group in Russia – the peasants. The peasants was the largest socio economic class in Russia and had the power of revolution as a tool for change. Nicholas realised this and instructed his prime minister, Stolypin, to make some changes. Agrarian reform, Nicholas hoped, would mend the relationship with peasants. It didn’t work and the peasants continued to hate Nicholas.
The relative calm of 1906 to 1912 was suddenly broken when reports of 240 striking miners being killed in Siberia. This triggered a massive rise in the amount of workers going on strike (550 000 in 1912 compared with 8000 in 1911). The protest continued into 1913 with similar amounts of workers going on strike. Still feeling resentment to Nicholas, hardly any workers celebrated the impressive milestone the Romanov family had just achieved – 300 years of rule. The protests began to...

...The Decline and Fall of the RomanovDynasty
In 1894, Tsar Alexander III died suddenly of Kidney failure at a very young age. His son, Nicholas II took over the position (he was only 26) through succession, not knowing that he would soon become the tsar who brought the Romanov rule to an end after more than 300 years of autocratic rule.
The same year, Tsar Nicholas married Princess Alix (Alexandra) of Hesse-Darmstadt. The marriage was a love match. The couple were a perfect example of complete love for one another but, when one is a ruler of an empire, unquestionable love is not always a good thing. During the first years of the marriage, the Tsar would not even upset his wife by complaining about his problems to her. He was once quoted in saying the following to his brother-in-law "I am not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling".
Tsar Nicholas soon decided (or knew no other way) that he would rule the same as his father, and all the Romanov generations before him ruled, with absolute power. He decided to rule this way because he saw no need for change - 'it's worked for nearly 300 years, why change now?' the tsar was once quoted saying. What the Tsar didn't realize is that he is ruling with a 17th Century mind-set, and it was now the 20th century.
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...The Decline and Fall of the RomanovDynasty
It can be argued that Grigory Rasputin was responsible for the fall of the RomanovDynasty to an extent. There are many aspects that Rasputin was the cause for Nicholas and his family losing their powers over the people of Russia. It is believed that Rasputin was only the catalyst that brought about widespread revolt.
Rasputin played a very important role in the lives of the royal family, especially to the Tsar and Tsarina’s only son , Tsarevich Alexei, who was suffering a lot of pain from the disease Haemophilia. Rasputin was regarded as the last means to an end to cure the Tsar and the Tsarina’s haemophiliac son. They had tried to find a cure everywhere for their son and in 1905 ask the peasant healer to help. In 1908 when Alexei was seriously ill, Rasputin was called to Royal palace where he managed to stop the bleeding. From then on the Tsar referred to Rasputin as “our friend” displaying to the people the amount of trust they had in Rasputin.
Tsar Nicholas II couldn’t stop the progression of revolution as he came to rule at a difficult time. He was out of touch with his people and was known as a leader that was no good, weak, hesitant; and extremely hard-headed. Tsar Nicholas II was at the time mainly concerned with his family issues instead of being focused on the political issues. He was also not prepared to efficiently rule a...

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...The Romanovs had ruled Russia since 1613. When the last tsar of all, Nicholas II, was appointed to the throne in 1894, there was no hint of the fate that awaited him. Many among the huge crowds that lined the streets for his coronation celebration saw him as their "little father." They believed God had supposedly appointed Nicholas to rule an empire covering about one-sixth of the earth's land area.
In 1894, Russia was at peace. Foreign investors promoted its industrialization. Russia was ranked among the world's greatest powers under the autocracy of the Romanovs.
Although well intentioned, Nicholas was a weak ruler, out of touch with his people, easily dominated by others and a firm believer in the autocratic principles taught him by his father. He ruled Russia as an autocrat. Propaganda and the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church encouraged his people to love and respect their tsar and look on him as a father who had the right to rule them.
Nicholas II ruled a police state, called the okhrana, which responded brutally to anyone who dared question his authority. He had absolute power. He declared the law and could overrule any existing law. Political parties were illegal until 1905. There was no parliament until 1906 and even then, Russia was hostile to its existence. He was free to appoint and dismiss his advisers without giving reasons.
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...﻿Topic 1- Decline and fall of the Romanovdynasty
Syllabus outline
Nicholas II as autocrat
Political, social and economic grievances in early 20th century Russia
The tsar’s failure to address the problems of Russia
The role of WWI in the fall of the tsarist regime
Focus questions
How stable was the social basis of tsarist rule?
Why was the government unable to meet the challenges emerging in the first decade and a half century?
How important were the Bolsheviks before 1917?
What effect did WWI have on the tsarist government?
The paradox
The last years of imperial Russia were characterized by a paradox. Externally, Russia appeared very strong. There had been substantial growth economically and her military force was large. But internally, she was weak, with an inflexible political structure and a society undergoing massive change
Timeline
1868- Nicholas Romanov is born
1894- Nicholas marries Alix (Alexandra) of Hesse Darmastadt and becomes tsar.
1895-1904- the royal children are born
1905- A year of riots and disturbances leads to the ‘October Manifesto’, a concession which helps to stop the unrest by promising a constitution
1906- The first Russian duma meets but is dissolved after ten weeks because it questions the tsar’s power
1914- The First World War breaks out, temporarily uniting the country behind Nicholas
1915- Nicholas becomes army commander-in-chief, thus identifying himself...

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What really lead to the rise of Qin conquering China and the fall of the empire? Politics took a big role in the rise and fall of the Qin dynasty. Between 402 B.C.E and 201 B.C.E the large states of China were fighting to gain control over the entire area during the period of the Warring States. The Qin dynasty was the only state that managed conquering the other warring states, unifying China for the first time. At that time Qin was considered a powerful state, mainly due to its powerful army which utilized new technology in combat, and was made up of horse archers (cavalry). Shi Huangdi (first emperor) at the time was the emperor of Qin. He was a cruel, but efficient ruler who brought China under a single overbearing rule. He stressed central authority. "Shi Huangdi knew that the end of aristocratic rule would solve China's dilemma. Aristocrats that were gaining power over feudal provinces were sentenced to appear at Shi Huangdi's court and leave their states. Once...